A CONSERVATIONIST dubbed “The Human Swan” today begins her first expedition since being involved in a mid-air collision which claimed the life of her cameraman.
Sacha Dench is leading a team of nine people to follow the migration route of the osprey some 10,000km (6213 miles) from the Moray coast to Ghana through 14 countries – a trip that will last about four months.
Dan Burton, 54, died when the pair’s paramotors collided in the north-west Highlands last September.
Dench, who previously flew some 7000km (4300 miles) across Russia and Europe in 2016 to track the Bewick’s swan, survived but was left with life-changing injuries.
Now, only months out of hospital, the Australian-born biologist, who still has one of her legs in a metal brace and requires crutches to walk, is setting off on the Flight of the Osprey expedition, run by Conservation Without Borders, which she founded.
“We are doing this expedition for Dan just as much as for the ospreys,” Dench said. “I know he would be cheering me and the team on.
The crew is travelling in three vehicles, including a converted army ambulance which has been fitted with a shower and kitchen and painted white with a map of the route and ospreys on it.
The aim of the mission is to gather data and highlight the impacts of climate change and human activities on ospreys and other wildlife, after the original trip in 2020 was postponed due to Covid.
Ospreys migrate on their own, which means the young ones make the epic and often perilous feat of endurance without adult birds.
Dench said only 70% of juveniles return for breeding, and the team wants to know more about why.
“We want to listen to the voices of people in these different countries who live around critical sites for these birds, and involve them in conservation because they are notably absent at most of the discussions around saving migratory species,” she said.
